One of the biggest problems with the major hacks that hit firms like Sony and Target last year is that it often takes a while for them to be detected. That gives those responsible plenty of time to use their position within the network to sniff or phish out more credentials, which can move them higher up the chain to where the really valuable data is. But what if a trap was set for intrepid hackers that tipped off the admins to their presence?That’s the idea being proposed by South African digital security company Thinkst. It wants to add a honeypot to enterprise networks that represents too valuable a target for hackers to pass up. When they attempt to read its contents or bypass its lax security, network admins and potentially even the authorities, can be alerted.Related: Do theaters still matter? Amazon knows they do, even after The InterviewOf course this isn’t some brand new technique that has just been thought up. The problem with a traditional honeypot though is … [Read more...] about Hacker honeypot could help secure networks everywhere

While Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 won't be released until the first quarter of 2013, the platform has already received a highly prized U.S. government security clearance, the company announced Thursday.BlackBerry 10 won the FIPS 140-2 certification that will allow government agencies to deploy devices that run the OS. The clearance also applies to Enterprise Service 10, RIM's new mobile enterprise management solution.The FIPS certification, which is given by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is in essence one of the minimum criteria required for products that are used by U.S. government agencies, as well as regulated industries that collect, store, transfer, share and disseminate sensitive information."The FIPS 140-2 is applicable to all federal agencies that use cryptographic-based security systems," said Randall J. Easter, director of the Cryptographic Module Validation Program at NIST."The security requirements cover areas related to the secure design … [Read more...] about BlackBerry 10’s US Security Clearance Is a Lock

BlackBerry subsidiary Secusmart on Monday introduced the SecuTablet, a high-security tablet based on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, at the CeBIT 2015 trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany.Developed in collaboration with IBM, the tablet targets national and international public sector markets and enterprises.IBM provided the secure app wrapping technology and further assisted in implementing Secusmart's high-security solutions for a number of government sector clients.The SecuTablet is designed with special security features that can protect business as well as government data, while also allowing users to access social media and other nonsecure personal applications.The tablet is an addition to the SecuSuite for BlackBerry 10 portfolio and can be integrated with existing SecuSuite infrastructures.It is expected to arrive in the third quarter, and it reportedly will sell for US$2,360. The SecuTablet, which is compatible with BlackBerry 10, essentially builds on Samsung's proven Galaxy Tab … [Read more...] about BlackBerry, IBM, Samsung Come Together on High-Price, High-Security Tablet

Ethernet has been steadily extending its influence as it continues to evolve beyond the local area network.The ongoing development of virtual local area network, or VLAN, standards, is paving the way for Ethernet to play a key role in next-generation networking.As networks expand, so do opportunities to exploit them. Ethernet offers the means to strongly encrypt network traffic right down through a data or message packet's contents.The ability to apply the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) across every data packet traversing a network is a powerful attraction of Layer 2 data encryption, particularly as stringent information security standards have now been mandated by a variety of legislative actions, including the EU Data Protection Directive, Sarbanes-Oxley, California Database Security Breach Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Federal Information Security Management Act, noted Andy Solterbeck, vice president of product … [Read more...] about Ethernet’s New Security Layer

Network Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: NETA) is taking an e-commerce security seminar series on the road this month, bringing product demos and security advice to 26 American cities.According to Network Associates, the tour will feature two focused tracks -- "Active Security Solutions for E-Business" and "Sniffer Total Network Visibility Solutions for E-Business" - which are designed to "inform business decision-makers about key industry trends and practical examples of how they can proactively monitor and secure network activity in an increasingly interconnected world."The Active Security Solutions track -- working on the premise that "within five years, every business will be an e-business" -- will use proactive security management topics to introduce several of the company's solutions, such as the CyberCop intrusion detection, Event Orchestrator authentication, Gauntlet Firewall, McAfee anti-virus and PGP encryption products.The "Sniffer" track will focus upon efficient and … [Read more...] about Network Associates to Launch Security Seminar Tour

The booming market for outsourced Internet security services could provide a home for venture capital money previously directed to dot-coms, according to a reportannounced Tuesday by the Yankee Group.Yankee analysts spent the last three months of 2000 interviewing andresearching companies that provide so-called "managed security services,"talking to Internet service providers (ISPs), security equipment vendors and othersabout the market for outsourcing these services.The analysts concluded that themarket is poised for growth, and could benefit from a surge in venturecapital investment. Successful companies, they said, could eventually raisefunds through initial public offerings (IPOs)."With the demise of the 'dot-bombs,' manyVCs have been looking for alternative ways to invest their money," Yankee said. "There is a high market demand for managed securityservices, so the venture capitalists are more than willing to back the many(security service provider) startups that have … [Read more...] about Report: Internet Security Is VC Hot Spot

The use of smartphones as business tools has reached a tipping point. Soon, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access devices worldwide. As a result, employees will look less to corporate IT as a source for technical leadership. As mobile phones provide cutting-edge smartphone technology, employees will look to consumer-oriented vendors that cater to their own personal needs, rather than those of their employers.The issue is that consumer smartphone platforms are inherently insecure, as mobile network endpoint devices are exposed to the threats of the Web. Whether corporate-issued or personally owned, smartphones easily move in and out of the network, traversing internal and external firewalls. It is harder for IT to control what users do with their smartphone devices -- and consequently, to keep them from exposing business data to security threats.A smartphone that can access the network via a wireless access point represents the same kind of threat as any other … [Read more...] about EXPERT ADVICE 10 Best IT Practices for Smartphone Security